5/15/2008 @ 1:30PM

Google Reassures On Mapping Europe

Contrary to recent worries, Europeans crossing the street, walking the dog or just going about their daily life in public will be safe from Big Brother Google after all.

Google
said Thursday that before the European introduction of its popular map service Street View, it will comply with local privacy laws. Street View provides ground-level, 360-degree images of street addresses, including individuals who happen to be in the area at the time the image was taken.

“We will not launch in Europe until we are comfortable Street View complies with local law, including law relating to the display of images of individuals,” a Google spokesperson told Forbes.com in an e-mailed statement. “We will use technology like face-blurring, and operational controls, such as image removal tools, so Street View remains useful and in keeping with local norms wherever it is available.”

Google Maps’ Street View is not yet available outside of 40 U.S. cities, but there have already been sightings of Google-marked vehicles scanning the streets of Paris and Rome. One EU official recently raised concerns about the potential invasion of privacy, an issue that is more sensitive in Europe, than in the States.

European Union Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx, who works to establish consistent data and privacy protection among EU nations, highlighted the issue while presenting his annual report Thursday in Brussels. “Making pictures everywhere is certainly going to create some problems,” Hustinx said.

In France, for example, citizens have the legal right to their own image, which prevents the unauthorized publication of some pictures identifying them in public.

Hustinx added that he was confident Google would work with authorities to make sure that Street View was compliant before its introduction.

In response to privacy complaints, Street View this week began to blur the faces of American individuals captured doing everyday things like crossing the street or sunbathing. Individuals can also flag an image for removal if they feel it violates their privacy.

Google Maps and its related Google Earth service have also come under fire internationally for providing images of sensitive locations. In March Google said it would comply with a Pentagon request to remove some images from Street View over fears that it posed a security threat to American military bases.